Browsing: Navy

Navy fans against the football team’s 2015 move to the Big East conference almost had their wish. Joe Bailey, the conference’s former interim commissioner, told the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit late last week that the league — which will have expanded its football presence to California, Idaho, Tennessee and Texas by the time Navy joins — “has commissioned a study to consider alternative names.” Bailey didn’t give a timetable, but with a study already underway, it seemed a safe bet that by 2015, Navy would not be joining the Big East, but some other newly minted organization with a name…

Enough with the suspensions, travel pictures and other off-field issues — here’s what you need to know for Navy football’s season-opening clash with rival Notre Dame: When and where: Saturday, 2 p.m. local time (9 a.m. Eastern), Aviva Stadium, Dublin. TV: CBS (U.S. broadcast), ESPN America (Europe and other international rights), American Forces Network. More details in second item here. Gambling is illegal in most states (but not in Ireland): Notre Dame is a 16-point favorite. Option assessment: Junior Trey Miller has one career start — a 56-14 thrashing at the hands of the Irish last season. With his top…

Four quick hits to start the week before kickoff: 1. Irish saving on airline tickets. Notre Dame senior running back Cierre Wood, the projected starter for the Irish after topping 1,000 yards on the ground last season, was suspended Sunday for the first two games of 2012, including Saturday’s contest against Navy in Dublin, according to multiple reports. Wood will sit because of unspecified rules violations and will be joined on the sideline by reserve defensive end Justin Utupo, also out for unspecified reasons. But that’s nowhere near the full list. Also suspended for Dublin are quarterback Tommy Rees and…

Two Democrats yesterday. And in the interest of equal time, two Republicans today (we’re not counting Gen. Eisenhower, if you’re scoring at home): Here, President Bush poses with Navy’s Reggie Campbell, left, and Irv Spencer during an April 14, 2008, ceremony in the Rose Garden. Skipping the traditional personalized jersey, the pair presented the president with a cowboy hat. The ceremony, celebrating Navy’s 2007 Commander in Chief’s Trophy win, came in the midst of a seven-year CINC streak for the Mids, which Air Force ended in 2010. The yearly trophy presentation wasn’t always as lavish or as reliably recorded for…

Boston Red Sox shortstop, coach, manager and all-around legend Johnny Pesky died Monday at age 92. The Fenway fans’ seven-decade love affair with Pesky went well beyond his stat sheet, even though he hit .307 over 10 seasons and led the American League in hits three times — 1942, 1946 and 1947. What happened in 1943, 1944 and 1945? Like so many others, baseball icon or no, Pesky went to war. He began his naval aviator training in Massachusetts before the 1942 season ended, learning alongside Ted Williams at Amherst College. (Williams had it down cold, apparently — he would…

Can you post an Army Heisman photo and not follow it up with a Navy Heisman photo? We’d rather not find out. After Action’s second pic in our monthlong countdown features Roger Staubach running for daylight, and offensive lineman Thomas Holden looking to clear space, during Navy’s 35-14 win over Notre Dame on Nov. 2, 1963. Have a memory of the game or of Staubach, either your own or passed down through the years? Post it below.

Three quick hits for Navy football fans, who are now 44 days away from a season-opener on the Emerald Isle: 1. About that opener … ESPN.com breaks down the Navy-Notre Dame game as part of its series on Fighting Irish opponents this season. It’s an excellent at-a-glance look at the 2012 Navy program, including some comments from Andrea Adelson, ESPN’s Big East football blogger. She breaks down Navy’s chances and addresses the self-inflicted wounds that cost the Mids a number of close games in 2011. Navy fans probably should get used to reading Adelson’s stuff now, before the Big East…

Five quick military-sports hits for a Monday morning: 1. Who gets ‘The Count’? While the smack talk between former Marine Capt. Brian Stann and Michael “The Count” Bisping has reached impressive proportions, it’s important to remember the proposed September middleweight clash between the two is still just that — proposed. Bisping’s initial blast called out both Stann and Alan Belcher, whose 18-6 record includes a four-fight win streak dating back to mid-2009. As usual, there’s no shortage of opponents eager for a piece of the controversial Bisping, and Belcher wants to be at the front, telling our good friends at…

The Navy may be “A global force for good,” but that global reach has its limits — especially when it comes to playing Notre Dame in Dublin. Out of the nearly 50,000 fans expected to pack Aviva Stadium on Sept. 1, only 5,000 will be rooting for the Midshipmen, according to Independent.ie — Notre Dame sold 30,000 tickets, and IrishCentral.com reports ND fans scooped up the remainder through other channels. (UPDATE: Navy PR folks weigh in with official ticket tallies here — No. 5 on the list) Both reports make it clear the game’s impact goes beyond ticket sales: $30…

A hat-tip to our good friends at FBSchedules.com for this one: For the first time, Navy football has released what could be considered a nonconference schedule. According to the official Navy athletics website, there are four games on the slate for 2015, not including whoever the Mids will face in their inaugural Big East season. The list includes a home game against Air Force (Oct. 3), a visit to Notre Dame (Oct. 10), a trip to Hawaii (Nov. 28, adjust your Thanksgiving weekend plans accordingly) and the Army-Navy game Dec. 12 in Philadelphia. The trip to Hawaii qualifies Navy for…